Anyone use a mini spool on a daily driver? What could I expect from my 9" 370 with a mini spool in it if I use it in my daily driving deuce?
Terrible idea. Expect excessive tire wear and awful bad weather handling. Down right dangerous on a daily as far as I'm concerned. Just think, it's raining, you're cruising down the highway at 70 mph, road starts to bend so one tire breaks traction...is that other tire enough to keep you going in the right direction? If they make a mini spool for your rear, then they make a decent posi traction unit. Trac-locs blow, but an Auburn pro series, Detroit or a Zexel Torsen would be a much better choice. Sure they're a few more bucks now, but may be a lot cheaper in the long run if you put your car into a tree
Hey.. Agreed with the other guy... Howz-ever I mite add that I've been run'n a spool with 4:10s for 3 years. If one is pay'n attention there OK..but a pain/ not the safe-st but will work. This year or next I''m go'n back to a posi/locker Pontiac Slim
Also, if you're runnin OEM axles don't whine when you break one. The steering in the car will be so heavy you'll leave it home often. Like the others said, bad idea.
I also agree, extra tire wear and steering for ****. Spools either mini or full are made for racing. With the axles locked like that, every time you turn the outside radius tire is going to chirp because its wanting to go the same speed as the inside tire, not good on axles. Get a posi for the street.
Also. If you are involved in an accident that is even remotely related to the rear end spool. Your insurance company will not cover you.. "Knowingly operating a defective vehicle". BEEN THERE!!!! My wife at the time insisted that she had to go into town. Her car was down for a couple hours PM. Nice early spring morning, just a hint of dew on ground. Off she goes in my 48 Ford coupe. SBC, 350 turbo, Locked rear. Two very shallow "S" curves, patches of dew on pavement woman driver= Complete spinout after trying to correct for wet. Across traffic, over small embankment, over some mailboxes, into the quarter panel of a Buick parked in the owners driveway. Luckilly no one hurt. Wife gets ticket (which I heard about every day after, till I divorced her). I get to pay for ALL damages+ wrecked Ford Coupe.....
Been there... The heavier the car the more of a PITA it will be, with hopping and tire scrub the order of the day in dry weather. A light car can get away with it, however you know something is different as you drive and you MUST stay constantly aware of it in wet conditions. That said...a regular POSI will act like that if the car is light anyway! The friction preload is set up to slip when a certain amount of opposing force is applied to the axles thru the turning of the vehicle. If the vehicle is much lighter than say the fullsize car the Posi was originally designed for, the tire may slip before that clutch slippage point is ever reached, thus you STILL need to be very aware as you drive in the wet! Having the ability to operate as a differential doesn't mean ALL requirements will be met during operation to make it CONSISTANTLY operate as a diff in all conceivable conditions. Just having a Posi in place of a spool doesn't pull you out of the woods as far as being 100% "safe" to drive in wet weather... I ran a mild 350/auto in a Datsun 310 for a year with a Lincoln locked 610 Datsun rear axle. Rain or shine (and SNOW for a week!LoL). Moderate to tight turns were VERY interesting at times in the wet. Dry commuting wasn't too bad until you were taking sharp turns. I'd do it again IF no Posi were available...but I'd give finding a Posi a REALLY good go first! The INSURANCE angle sounds very scary too!
Excuse me while I hi-jack this post for a minute........ I got a "locking rear" out of an '84 Chebby 1/2 ton. How are they in the rain? What exactly is a "locking rear", anyways- a Posi unit, or something different? Its going under my Stude p/u. Damn thread hi-jackers..............
WELL THAT DOES IT !! Thanks HAMBr's,No mini spool for me.I was going to try it,but you guy's saved me valuable wrench time. Now I'm in the market for a posi unit for my 370 gear 9"". Thanks.
If its the same setup as a Gov-Loc in an S10 Blazer, it's an open differential until a set speed difference between the left and right axle shafts is sensed by a set of bob-weights, (Governor) which causes a pawl to engage and lock both axles to the same speed. Works OK in lower powered vehicles with small diameter tires but has big durability issues once the tires or engine grow in size. Imagine the force generated to suddenly mechanically lock an axle shaft who's wheel is on dry pavement as the other spins freely on ice or water! Increase the tire diameter or available power and things start coming apart. Then again...yours may be a larger version...I think they were available in all the different GM axle ***emblies and for sure some are tougher than others, but they still have the same basic limitations.
My franklin has a spool in it and I was thinking it might be a ***** but diffs for the franklin are big money. bret
Alright... I guess I'll be the idiot with a deathwish... My '62 Chevy II (10 second car) has a 4.11 9" with a full spool, 30x13.5 ET Streets, and I drive the hell out of it. Mine DOES have 35 spline Moser axles, so I don't have to worry about that, but anybody that says the drivability will suffer has never driven a car with a spool. My '75 Nova (12 second car) has a 3.73 with a detroit locker in it, and In my opinion that's MORE dangerous, because it only unlocks about 1/3 of the time. If you're expecting it to unlock and it doesn't, you might get in trouble! If you know the wheels are locked and drive accordingly, you won't have any issues. After destroying several GM posi units, and 2 Auburns, I'll run a spool in anything I want posi in in the future... I guess I'm just dumb like that... Steve
I agree with HRTH, you can drive a spool on the street, but it does require paying attention. I used to drive my drag Camaro (high 10's, 14x32 slicks, ladder bars, full spool) on the street, just do not get on the gas while going around a corner. It will make the tires squeal when turning, especially on new asphalt. For a street car i think a posi is a better choice overall, but you can drive a spool on the street, just keep your head straight.
Hackerbill, I did some research & the rear I have is the "Gov-Lok" style. Not worth a damn for what I was planning- big motor & cheater slicks! Thanx for the info you gave me. It saved me alot of headaches.....
Glad to help! Saw an S10 Gov-Loc diff shatter just doing a stoplight launch on street tires a couple of years back. The rearend had been in a mild 57 Chevy less than a week!!!
My best friend drives a spooled t-bird everyday in all weather. Its his only car and it runs 11's. They are not bad as long as you know they are there. I would not run a minispool for anything, you are asking for trouble. I would only run a spool on the street with aftermarket axles. He has strange 33 splines in his 8.8" rear.
I had a mini-spool in a '82 Bronco with 35" Boggers. Ran all winter and never had a problem. Sure they make tire noise and such in the corners but it never bothered me.
I don't know what you guys are whining about I've run a mini spool in my car for 5 years now ( stock axles 28 spline ). The only problems I've had was I bent the hardened pin that comes with the spool and had to get a new one. It does cut down on your parallel parking options. I've never had a problem with rain or ice or crazy road conditions. As for tire wear? I do go thur a set every year and a half but is it because I drive everyday 70 miles to work and back, Drive cross country to car shows or hit the 1/4 mile everynow and then. Could also be that every once and a while I like to just smoke'em down. Who knows. Now I have blown up a few rear ends also during this time so my advive to you is : Don't put a spool in a junk yard rear end Rebuild it and throw one in for them money you can't go wrong.
The good thing is ,you don't need an emergency brake or Park anymore. Just turn the front wheels and that Baby won't ever move.
I ran a spool in my 4x4 for a while...it does **** on the street. I narrowly avoided a stunting ticket because a cop thought I was deliberitely squaking my tires around a corner.
I've been running spools and mini-spools for 11 years on various daily drivers and my conclusion is the negativity is outweighed by the positives. One thing I have found out is alot of negative response comes from people who have never had a spool and heard negative things from others who never had a spool. What you will notice is shifting through the gears on a straight drive is seamless > no unlock and lock wigglies as with a locker. When you let off the gas and give it gas it's very smooth not like a locker. You know no matter what that you are locked up solid. A mini-spool is cheap and easy to install and if you don't like it you can remove it and put the spiders back in. As for a limited slip they are nice but just not as reliable for getting traction to the ground. A 9" mini-spool is about $50-$75, a full $150-$225 and a limited slip $350 and up. I was running a mini in a dana 44 rear with 38" tires for many years of hard four-wheeling, a mini in another 44 with 35" tires on my tow vehicle, now I have a full in a dana 60 with 30 spline full floating axles and 44" tires with 1 break to date. So don't worry too much about breaking a shaft. I'm a cheap *** and I love traction > I vote mini-spool Remember Baskin-Robbins has 31 different flavors for a reason. Everyone has an opinion. ******Knuckles
You "can" drive on the street with a spool. You "can" drive on the street with slicks. You "can" drive on the street with rear only brakes. I have done all of them, I no longer will. 'nuf said. If you make enough horse power you don't need a spool, it locks up all by itself.
Thats cause your an old man now and retired and all the fun is gone from your old weak body and mind. Ill bet you wrote this wile you were watching opra Dave ps: or maybe it was judge judy
I was re-reading thru this post, & came up w/ a dumb question- Whats the difference between a spool & a mini-spool (other than 130 bucks)? I noticed in the Summit catalog that mini's are for "dirt track use only"?
Well , I split a mini spool this last summer and in turn messed up one end of a new moser axle 28 spline 9 inch I now have a full spool and 35 spline axles and drive it on the street as well as race it. After all , g***ers are made to go fast and you must have a spool to do so , but you sure know it is a spool in tight places ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,determine what you need out of your car first and then do whats needed to get that done..........
No dumb questions... A Mini spool takes the place of the side and spider gears that make up your differential. The 1 piece unit can fit inside a Ford diff because the diff splits in half down the crown gear centerline. A hardened pin is required and all torque is transfered thru this pin. A full spool looks much like the complete stock differential as the crown gear bolts directly to it, but there are no side or spider gears at all. The spool housing is actually splined to accept the side axles directly. There are no moving parts inside at all...and torque is transfered directly from the crown gear to the axle shafts. Naturally, this is a stronger and lighter setup.
There are no stupid questions, just alot of inquizitive idiots You can get the mini to see if your ok with driving a locked rear, because you can easily go back, then step up to the stronger full spool if you decide you can live with it.
gov-locks **** and thats all there is to it!ive replaced 100s..2 ways to do this go witha good posi.i like the newer style tracloc.auburn,eaton.but for my own car it will be a detroit locker ...ive had them in my jeep for years and i like the way they work.they have a bad rep but its not bad at alll.they act like a posi on wet roads....with a auto trans they arent as noticable the newr ones arent as harsh when the engauge/disengauge.....or if you want to drop some coin on a ARB (air locker ) that would be neat in a hot rod.there are a few electric lockers out there but havent heard much about them yet.... i for one wouldnt run a spool, just hard on everything!!! my .02
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